Keyword: jpii

Bishop Conry Absolves Himself Bishop Conry has given an interview to a semi-porn rag for gossiping housewives called “Daily Mail”. Visit the site at your peril. The interview allows us to give a long, hard look at your typical “spirit of V II” priest. Caution: strong smell of brimstone. First, the photo; reproduced above, and obviously published with his and his mistress consent, or acceptance: a priest and his mistress walk about. He is in plain clothes, though he is obviously still a priest; she wears a cross and what the wife of an Anglican bishop would consider a not...

For the first time since the Marxist revolution, a new Roman Catholic church is being erected in Cuba.The BBC reports: Its attitude to religion has softened since the fall of the Soviet Union, but this is the first Catholic church to be built for more than 50 years. Cuban seminarians The island nation has been communist since the overthrow of Fulgenico Batista in the Marxist revolution of 1959. (From that time until 1992, Cubaâ€™s constitution said that the country was officially atheist.) Revolutionaries under Fidel Castro entered into a power struggle with the Catholic Churchâ€“accusing the clergy of defending the...

Blessed John Paul II: Champion of Religious Freedom Most Reverend William E. Lori, S.T.D. Address at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast Washington, D.C. April 27, 2011Introduction“Ladies and gentlemen: On the threshold of a new millennium, we are witnessing an extraordinary global acceleration of that quest for freedom which is one of the great dynamics of human history. This phenomenon is not limited to any one part of the world; nor is it the expression of any single culture. Men and women throughout the world, even when threatened by violence, have taken the risk of freedom, asking to be given a...

Interesting reflections for a Constitution Day courtesy of remarks made by Pope John Paul II to President Reagan on September 10, 1987 during the Pope’s visit to the US: Mr President, 1. I am grateful for the great courtesy that you extend to me by coming personally to meet me in this city of Miami. Thank you for this gesture of kindness and respect. On my part I cordially greet you as the elected Chief Executive of the United States of America. In addressing you I express my own deep respect for the constitutional structure of this democracy, which you are...

Saint John Paul II was an amazing man, priest, bishop, pope, and now Saint! But here are 10 things about him that you may have never known: Saint John Paul II could speak Latin fluently. A rare art these days. Oh and besides his native Polish, he could also converse in: Slovak, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Ukrainian, and English.Saint John Paul II received his call to the priesthood when he once accidentally â€ścaughtâ€ť his father praying alone during the night on his knees.Saint John Paul II was an expert on Saint John of Cross and the Carmelite...

Between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m. â€” and sometimes as early as 4:00 â€” Pope John Paul II would arise each morning, keeping virtually the same schedule he had as the bishop of KrakĂłw. Although he enjoyed watching the sunrise, the main reason for his early start was to make time for prayer. He prayed the Rosary prostrate on the floor or kneeling, followed by his personal prayers, and would then go to the chapel in order to prepare for 7:30 Mass. According to his press secretary, JoaquĂ­n Navarro-Valls, his sixty to ninety minutes of private prayer before Mass were the...

Floribeth Mora Diaz in Rome for the canonization of John Paul II and John XXIII, April 24, 2014. Credit: Marta Jimenez. Rome, Italy, Apr 25, 2014 / 10:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Floribeth Mora Diaz, the Costa Rican woman whose healing through the intercession of Bl. John Paul II paved the way for his canonization Sunday, describes the incident as being a rebirth. "That was the day I was born again: May 1, 2011," Mora told CNA April 24. In April 2011, Mora had been diagnosed with a serious brain aneurism and been given a month to live. Mora explained that...

Liberation Theology is taking over the Vatican a quarter of a century after Jean-Paul II systematically sought to stamp out the "singular heresy" in the radical parishes and dioceses of Latin America, a task carried out with dutiful efficiency by Cardinal Ratzinger at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Code: ZE04121203Date: 2004-12-12Pope Defends Nativity Scene as a Sign of Faith and CultureIn Angelus Address on Gaudete SundayVATICAN CITY, DEC. 12, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The Christmas crib is a sign of faith and culture, says John Paul II. "Small or large, simple or elaborate, the crib constitutes a familiar and particularly expressive representation of Christmas," the Pope said. "It is an element of our culture and art, but above all a sign of faith in God, who came to Bethlehem 'to dwell among us.'" The Holy Father made his comment today from the window of study, as he greeted the crowds...

Confidant cardinal tells new tales about Pope John Paul's role in scandal In a new book, John Paul II’s longtime secretary claims that the former pope is not to blame for his support and praise of a disgraced power broker accused of pedophilia and bribery, according to a Catholic News Service report. The book, written in Italian by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz and titled Ho Vissuto con un Santo (I Lived with a Saint), has apparently changed certain memories of factual inconvenience — creating a sort of performance piece that sings truths people never knew. Pope Francis has ordered the canonization...

The apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917 in the midst of World War I and at the outset of the Soviet â€śOctober Revolutionâ€ť have had long-range historical effects.The prelude to the Fatima apparitions was the appearance in the spring of 1916 of an angel, who identified himself as the â€śangel of peaceâ€ť to three Portuguese children: Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco. The angel appeared to them again in the summer, telling them that heaven had â€śdesigns of mercyâ€ť and teaching them to offer prayers and sacrifices. He appeared a third time in the fall, offering the children the Eucharist.The...

We tend to think of the papacy of Benedict XVI as the papacy that put the Catholic liturgy back together again, turning the Â“hermeneutic of ruptureÂ” into the Â“hermeneutic of continuity.Â” Rarely receiving the credit for preparing the way is John Paul II, who labored mightily and brilliantly during his pontificateÂ—in a long and consistent series of liturgical teachingsÂ—to restore what had been lost and to prepare for a brilliant future. The July 5 announcement by Pope Francis of John Paul IIâ€™s pending canonization offers an opportunity for us to recall his extraordinary contribution to the restoration of sacred art,...

(Vatican Radio) Journalists in the Holy See Press Office busy getting to grips with Pope Francis’ first encyclical the Light of Faith, were somewhat surprised Friday lunchtime when Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. called them back for a second announcement: Pope Francis had approved the cause for canonization of two of his venerable and much loved predecessors Blessed John XXIII and Blessed Pope John Paul II. Emer McCarthy reports: Meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Cause of Saints, Friday morning, Pope Francis approved the promulgation of the decree and also convoked a special Consistory...

Pope John Paul II Visits United Nations. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider. Vatican City, Jun 19, 2013 / 12:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Theologians at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints have approved a second miracle granted through the intercession of Blessed John Paul II, moving him closer to being declared a saint. â€śThe proclamation of his sainthood needs only the approval of the commission of cardinals and bishops and the final signature of Pope Francis,â€ť Italian news agency ANSA reported June 18. Before Blessed John Paul II can be canonized, the Congregation must formally approve the miracle and present...

Reagan and Thatcher in 1984 (AP Photo/Pool/Bill Rountree) My sister phoned me during lunch and I told her (nicely) that I was at that moment listening to the news of the death of Baroness Thatcher on Radio 4. I followed this up by saying I would go to London for her state funeral. “You really think that highly of her, do you?” responded my sister cautiously, and then reeled off a list of Lady Thatcher’s failings when in office: selling off the council houses, the notorious quote (taken out of context, of course) about “society”, not being keen to promote...

Former US President Jimmy Carter has disclosed that he had angry exchanges with Pope John Paul II about liberation theology and about the ordination of women. The former president said that he complained to the Pontiff about the Church’s “perpetuation of the subservience of women” while Blessed John Paul II was visiting the US in 1978, and “there was more harshness when we turned to the subject of ‘liberation theology.” Carter said that he classified the Pope as a “fundamentalist,” placing him in that category along with Iran’s late Ayatollah Khomeini. In the same interview Carter said that “it...

Our Lady of Fatima The author of an exhaustive study on the Virgin Mary's 1917 appearances in Portugal says her words are being fulfilled by the rise of aggressive secularism and loss of religious freedom in the West.“Mary, as I see it, pointed out at Fatima that these things were going to happen,” said Fr. Andrew Apostoli, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal and the author of “Fatima For Today” (Ignatius Press, $19.95), in an interview one day before the 94th anniversary of the last apparition in the Portuguese city. “She said that an evil will begin in Russia,...

In 1941 a young priest was condemned to death by the Soviets. He was to become one of the ChurchÂ’s great leaders, says Jonathan LuxmooreIn a stately marble corridor of the Polish bishopsÂ’ conference HQ a diminutive old man stands awkwardly among colleagues in the regalia of episcopal office. Outside, a line of dark Mercedes wait to transport their passengers back to spacious residences, while in the vestibule teams of assistants stand in readiness. Cardinal Kazimierz ĹšwiÄ…tek, who died in July, was an unlikely ecclesiastical elder statesman, surviving imprisonment and exile before being called to lead his countryÂ’s Catholics through...

This past Tuesday, September 13, I taught my first RCIA class, offered at St. Peterâ€™s Catholic Student Center at Baylor University. Although I have been teaching philosophy to college students for twenty-five years, I was a bit nervous. Thankfully, I have a minor role in the class, leading only one session this semester with perhaps another one or two in the Spring. Our RCIA team consists of several seasoned parishioners, with St. Peterâ€™s gifted pastor, Fr. Anthony Odiong, overseeing the entire enterprise. I spoke on the topic of Revelation, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium, focusing on how I came to...

When the Vatican announced that World Youth Day would be held in Denver in 1993, many news experts predicted that the event would be a failure. The United States, they said, was different than countries like Poland and Argentina, where previous World Youth Days had met great success. The United States, they claimed, lacked an entrenched tradition of Catholic pilgrimage, the traveling distances required to assemble a large gathering from across the country were too large, and most importantly American young people would simply be uninterested in the pope or his message. On August 10, 1993, stunned reporters crumpled their...

ROME, FEB. 18, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Pope John Paul II will be beatified May 1 in part because his intercession brought the healing of a French nun from Parkinson's Disease. But the Polish Pontiff has brought about many more miracles -- living miracles, according to Legionary of Christ Brother Randall Meissen. Brother Meissen has written a book called "Living Miracles: The Spiritual Sons of John Paul the Great" about priests who trace their vocation back to the influence of this Pope. The book explains what these "JP2 revolution" priests have in common and how God chose to plant and nourish the...

This is a perfect example of what the left thinks of the Catholic Church. In their eyes the church is an evil entity that abuses and molests children. And, now they’re smearing the pope as the molester in chief. Obama lackey, Huffington Post contributor and author Keli Goff compared cop-killer promoting poet Common, a member of Barack Obama’s former radical church, to the "child molester enabling" Pope Benedict. What an outrageous statement.

To grasp the full symbolism of the Vatican rites in which 1 million or more Catholics celebrated the beatification of Pope John Paul II, it helps to understand the visions recorded decades earlier in the diary of Sister Mary Faustina Kowalksa. Popes come and popes go. But the lives of this Polish nun and this Polish pope may be helping to reshape a crucial piece of the Catholic year â€” the celebrations that follow Easter, the high point of the Christian year. It was in 1937 that Kowalksa wrote: "As I was praying for Poland I heard the words: I...

Passover is over and Shavuot is weeks away. It's a season when Jews traditionally take time for contemplation and reflection. This year, I've been reflecting on Catholicism. Rather on the complicated interfaith nexuses between Catholics and Jews. In large part, of course, this is because of the beatification May 1 of Pope John Paul II. Critics have questioned the decision by Pope Benedict XVI to waive the usual five-year waiting period and fast-track John Paul's road to sainthood. And JP2 had his faults -- his handling of the priest sex abuse scandals has come under particular recent scrutiny. But the...

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins Vatican City, Apr 30, 2011 / 02:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope John Paul II should be declared a “patron saint of youth.” That’s the opinion of none other than the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins.“I personally think that John Paul II should be made patron saint of youth,” Cardinal Martins told a gathering a Rome’s Santa Croce University on April 30. He even mapped out how that could be achieved.“Some saints are patrons. If somebody wants to make a proposal to nominate somebody as a patron...

VATICAN CITY - Some 1.5 million pilgrims flooded Rome Sunday to watch Pope John Paul II move a step closer to sainthood in one of the largest Vatican Masses in history, an outpouring of adoration for a beloved and historic figure after years marred by church scandal. The turnout for the beatification far exceeded even the most optimistic expectation of 1 million people, the number Rome city officials predicted. For Catholics filling St. Peter's Square and streets and watching around the world, the beatification was a welcome hearkening back to the days when the pope was almost universally beloved....

Here are two especially moving tributes to John Paul II, whose beatification ceremony Elizabeth is now winging her way to attend. The first comes from Dr. Michael Berenbaum of A Jewish Journal: Enter Pope John Paul II who as a young man in Poland witnessed the Shoah. Three million Jews of Poland were killed in the Holocaust. After the war, Polish cities, which were once the home of large and thriving Jewish communities, were bereft of Jews and the PopeÂ’s hometown was the site of a large ghetto whose Jewish population was deported to death camps. As a young university...

Pope Benedict XVI, seated at right, watches the Polish-produced documentary, "John Paul II: I Kept Looking For You," at the Vatican April 9. After watching the film about his predecessor, Pope Benedict said "John Paul II was a great contemplative and a great apostle." (CNS/L'Osservatore Romano) By Cindy WoodenCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The slight differences between a beatification and a canonization are easy to miss, especially when one pope beatifies another pope. Just three weeks before Pope Benedict XVI was to beatify Pope John Paul II, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments issued a...

Pope John Paul II is seen in a promotional image for the Polish-produced documentary, "John Paul II: I Kept Looking For You." Pope Benedict XVI, who watched the film April 9 at the Vatican, called his predecessor "a great contemplative and a great apostle." (CNS/ARTRAMA) By Cindy WoodenCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The feast day of Blessed John Paul II will be marked Oct. 22 each year in Rome and the dioceses of Poland. When the Vatican made the announcement April 11, it also said Catholics throughout the world will have a year to celebrate a Mass...

God’s ways are mysterious and marvelous. I had the great honor of attending World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto. And it was there that I marveled at the work of the Spirit in my own life. As I walked the streets of Toronto, attended the workshops, observed the spirit and enthusiasm of thousands of young men and women from around the world – my heart was full of deep memories. And it was filled with a fresh spirit of joy. ...

VATICAN CITY, 5 APR 2011 (VIS) - This morning, a conference was held at the Holy See Press Office to present the preparations and the program for the beatification of John Paul II. The speakers were Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome; Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., director of Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Centre (CTV) and the Holy See Press Office; Fr. Cesare Atuire, director general of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi; Msgr. Marco Frisina, director of the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Vicariate of Rome; and Fr. Walter Insero, director of the Office of Social Communications...

The Pope is shot, May 1981; photo - PAP/EPA With under a month to go before the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II in Rome on 1 May, former communist leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski has claimed that “radical Islam” could have been behind the attempt to assassinate the Polish Pope thirty years ago. “Radical Islam detested the Pope and saw in him a leader of crusades,” the 87 year-old Jaruzelski has told the Jezus Catholic magazine. Rejecting the long-standing theory of Soviet, or Bulgarian communist involvement in the assassination attempt, Jaruzelski said that, “the Islamic trail would seem the...

It was the first day of spring in 2005. I was at the floristÂ in the seaside village where I grew up, assembling a basket of flowering spring plants for my sister, who had just given birth.Immersing my hands in budding greenery, inhaling the earthy scentsâ€”it helped to chase away, for a few moments, the looming death which occupied my mind. Later that evening, watching my sister's pink newborn suck on his tiny fists, I smiled; it was a welcome break from the tragedy that was flooding the airwaves, and leaving me feeling panicked.Terri Schindler Schiavo was being dehydrated to...

Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, speaks at a conference about Pope John Paul II in Rome April 1. (CNS/Paul Haring) By Cindy WoodenCatholic News Service ROME (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II is being beatified not because of his impact on history or on the Catholic Church, but because of the way he lived the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love, said Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes. "Clearly his cause was put on the fast track, but the process was done carefully and meticulously, following the rules Pope...

Years ago, after attending a natural family planning class my husband and I had taught, one of the students called me to tell me why she wasn’t coming to the next class. After a brief span of conversation that let me know she felt very intimate with God, she proceeded to inform me that the Lord had told her she could use artificial contraception. Inwardly, my jaw dropped. She had certainly learned the correct church teaching in our class. There was not much I could say, as she had already heard the truth, and had chosen to disregard it. Months...

Lord Nicholas Windsor (right) with Joseph Meaney (left), head of the HLI Rome office. Hilary White, LifeSiteNews.com ROME, March 21, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Lord Nicholas Windsor, the youngest child of the Duke and Duchess of Kent and first cousin to Queen Elizabeth II, told LifeSiteNews.com earlier this month that patience is required from those waiting for true moral and spiritual leadership to turn the anti-human, anti-life tide in Britain. Lord Windsor sat down with LSN at the annual plenary meeting of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life on February 25th. He spoke at length of his conversion to Catholicism, through...

"It could be said that human history is marked from the very beginning by the limit God the Creator places upon evil." â€” John Paul II, "Redemption as the Divine Limit Imposed upon Evil." [1] "Later, when the war was over, I thought to myself the Lord God allowed Nazism twelve years of existence, and after twelve years the system collapsed. Evidently this was the limit imposed by Divine Providence upon that sort of folly." â€” John Paul II, "The Limit Imposed on Evil in European History." [2] I. Pope John Paul II will be beatified on the Feast of...

Vatican City, Feb 18, 2011 / 04:29 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican has released new details about the upcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II. The celebrations will run from April 30-May 2, with the beatification itself taking place on May 1. For most events, the Vatican said, no tickets will be required and all will be welcomed. The festivities will begin with a prayer vigil in the massive open field of the Circus Maximus - where ancient Romans once held chariot races -- on the evening of April 30. The vigil will be led by the diocese's vicar general,...

From a fascinating article by Frank M. Rega. Shortly after World War II was over, a young Polish priest who was studying in Rome, Fr. Karol Wojtyla, visited Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo. This encounter took place around 1947 or 1948. At that time in post-war Italy, it was possible to have access to Padre Pio, since travel was difficult and great crowds were not besieging the Friary. The young priest spent almost a week in San Giovanni Rotondo during his visit, and was able to attend Padre Pioâ€™s Mass and make his confession to the saint. Apparently, this...

Rome, Italy, Jan 31, 2011 / 02:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Rome is already bracing for the impact of the many pilgrims who will converge on St. Peter's for the May 1 beatification of Pope John Paul II.Sleeping space in religious communities across the city - around 15,000 beds - was booked up within a day of the Jan. 14 announcement. The Domus Aurelia hotel run by the Emmanuel Community has been reserved "since literally two minutes after the announcement," said Lorenzo Amico, who was working the hotel desk at the time. The hotel is located a short way from St....

Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko Madrid, Spain, Jan 14, 2011 / 02:59 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The general coordinator of World Youth Day 2011 announced Jan 14 that John Paul II has been named patron of the upcoming youth event in Madrid, Spain.The 2011 World Youth Day will be celebrated August 16-21.The event's general coordinator, Auxiliary Bishop Cesar Franco of Madrid made the announcement shortly after Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, disclosed that John Paul II will be beatified on May 1.Cardinal Rylko announced the beatification to the more than 400 representatives attending the International Meeting...

Venerable Pope John Paul II Vatican City, Jan 14, 2011 / 10:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The much-anticipated beatification of Pope John Paul II will take place on May 1, the Sunday after Easter, the Vatican announced. The healing of a French nun with Parkinson's disease is to go down in history as the miracle that made John Paul II a "blessed." The title is given to martyrs and other Christians to whom a miracle has been officially attributed, thus bringing them one step closer to sainthood.Pope Benedict XVI approved the decree for the beatification of his predecessor during a...

Venerable Pope John Paul II Vatican City, Jan 12, 2011 / 02:39 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Vatican officials have concluded that a miraculous healing credited to the intercession of Pope John Paul II is authentic. The decision clears the way for the Church to declare the late Pope “blessed,” the final stage on the road to sainthood. The Pope’s beatification could take place as early as April 2, the sixth anniversary of his death, according to veteran Vatican analyst Andrea Tornielli, who broke the news in the Jan. 12 edition of the Italian newspaper, Il Giornale. Tornielli reported that cardinals...

www.catholicnewsagency.com Former President Bush's memoir will highlight influence of Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II and President George W. Bush Washington D.C., Oct 30, 2010 / 07:21 am (CNA).- An early preview of President George W. Bush's forthcoming memoir “Decision Points,” has revealed that the book will discuss the former president's relationship with Pope John Paul II—especially the Pope's influence on his decision to restrict embryonic stem cell research. The Pontiff and president met publicly in 2001, 2002 and 2004, for discussions that displayed both profound agreements and serious differences between the two men. On October 28,...

Pope John Paul II celebrates Mass at Victory Square in Warsaw in June 1979 during his first trip to Poland as pope. VATICAN CITY â€” Nine Days That Changed the World, a new movie produced by recent Catholic convert Newt Gingrich and his wife, Callista, is a compelling biopic of Pope John Paul II, powerfully showing the importance and relevance of the Catholic faith to freedom and democracy. The movie focuses on John Paulâ€™s historic visit to Poland on June 2-10, 1979, a pilgrimage that transformed Poland and which some historians say ultimately reshaped the spiritual and political landscape of...

Following Pope John Paul II’s death five years ago, the world prayerfully reflected on a life that had transformed the lives of millions of people worldwide. Today, the world continues to reflect on the life of Pope John Paul II because his teaching and his actions point the way forward to building a future worthy of man. How best to serve our fellow man? This is the timeless challenge of both political and religious leaders, but it was Pope John Paul II who most resolutely taught the world, religious and non-religious alike, that a future worthy of man must be...

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger tried to persuade Pope John Paul II to mount a full investigation into a cardinal who abused boys and young monks, one of the Church’s most senior figures revealed yesterday. But Ratzinger’s opponents in the Vatican managed to block the inquiry. As the future Benedict XVI put it: “The other side won.” The pervert cardinal was the late Hans Hermann Groer, removed as Archbishop of Vienna in 1995 following sex allegations. The source for the story is Groer’s successor in Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, an intellectual whom some commentators have tipped as a possible future Pope.The source...

Venerable John Paul II La Paz, Bolivia, Feb 23, 2010 / 12:53 pm (CNA).- Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was John Paul II’s personal secretary for 40 years, told participants at a Colombian conference that the late-Pope's beatification process “is practically finished.” In Colombia, where Cardinal Dziwisz traveled to participate in a conference on the legacy of John Paul II, the cardinal remarked that the beatification process of the pilgrim Pope “is practically finished.”“In order for the beatification to take place, it is important that the Church recognizes a miracle in which he has interceded. There is...

"I am not a saint, I am a sinner" says Giovanni Vecchio as he snips at a customer's hair in his barber's shop in a side street of a workaday Rome suburb. "But I have known a saint." He pauses, scissors in mid-air. "In fact, I have cut his hair". If - or when - the late Pope John Paul II is canonised, it will be in part thanks to Mr Vecchio. Over 30 years ago, when the barber's shop he worked in was near the Vatican, a Polish prelate called Karol Wojtyla wandered in, sat down, and had his...